Thomas Edison’s Horror Legacy: Frankenstein, a Decapitated Queen and a Fried Elephant
Did you know Thomas Edison, the inventor, was also a pioneer in horror and shock cinema? Well, he kind of was…or at least took credit for stuff.
Although it’s a commercially proven genre, horror doesn’t always get much respect. Still, some of the earliest films were horror. For example, J. Searle Dawley’s version of Frankenstein was released in 1910, and produced by Thomas Edison himself. Who was Thomas Edison? Well, if you haven’t heard of him, you should probably dust off your own grade school textbooks!
Edison is often considered America’s greatest inventor. While some reasonably believe he hogged credit for things, that’s not what we’re interested in here. At the very least, we know Edison slapped his name on a bunch of stuff and largely got away with it (Marvel’s Stan lee is sometimes accused of hogging credit for things, too).
One overlooked aspect of Edison is that he must have liked horror, and filming horrific things. Before the 1910 Frankenstein film, his company produced a very short film in 1895 called The Execution of Mary Stuart. The plot? It’s simply a visual depiction of the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots! Horror doesn’t get much more basic than that. The execution was fake, but is considered the first use of special effects on film.
In 1903, Edison’s company famously (and somewhat notoriously) filmed an actual execution of an elephant named Topsy, who apparently had killed someone. The film Electrocuting an Elephant was born. It’s not a totally unknown short film. In fact, the cartoon Bob’s Burgers dedicates much of an episode’s plot to it. Still, it’s some people may have missed that episode. It’s also debatable to what extent one should condemn Edison’s company for this. He could be considered a mere documentarian, after all.
Was Thomas Edison Just Into Shock?
The short answer would be “No,” because Edison’s company made non-horror films, too. Still, he didn’t shy away from titillation. In fact, a filmmaker associated with Thomas Edison was shocking, too. I’m talking about Edison Studios cameraman Edwin S. Porter’s The Great Train Robbery. Though it was made in 1903, The Great Train Robbery shows such things as a man being beaten to death with a brick, and a final shot of a bandit (played by Justus D. Barnes) firing a gun point blank at the audience. Also, Barnes looks cool as hell doing so!
In short, Edison and his people were definitely early innovators in shock cinema. Sure, there are some uncomfortable things about him, like that elephant film, and the fact his favorite movie was The Birth of a Nation (always an embarrassing thing to read about). However, credit must be given where it’s due.
Edison’s Electric Frankenstein
While these short films may have lacked some qualities, they were a sign of what was to come in horror. The 1910 Frankenstein actually has a pretty freaky transformation sequence, where Dr. Frankenstein animates his monster. At the same time, the story tries to have heart. In fact, the plot description in Edison’s Kinetogram says “Edison Co. has carefully tried to eliminate all actual repulsive situations and to concentrate its endeavors upon the mystic and psychological problems that are to be found in this weird tale.” Nevertheless, this is a surprisingly freaky version of the story, especially for its scant 14 minute running time!
This suggests that, at least some people at “Edison Co.” wanted to balance the shock with an appeal to wider audience. This, of course, is a problem faced by many aspiring horror filmmakers. Should they just go for it and depict truly appaling things on screen, or should they play it safe and appease polite society? In any case, Thomas Edison’s productions made their decisions, and they were products of their time.
On that note, the 1910 Frankenstein was actually believed to be a lost film until the 1970s, when it was revealed by Alois F. Dettlaff, a film collector from Wisconsin. Weird, isn’t it? One of the earliest known horror films might have been perpetually lost, were it not for that one Wisconsinite! What if he chose to just leave it in an attic, or lost it in a fire?
What are your thoughts on Thomas Edison, the 1910 Frankenstein and/or poor Topsy? Let us know in the comments!
We’ve reached the penultimate episode of Original Sin. This season has been a bloody delight so far, but of course, the endings usually ruin anything related to Dexter.
See the original series ending, book series ending and New Blood ending.
But so far this ending has been good. Let’s discuss.
The story
We begin this episode with the whole force worrying over Bobby, Harry’s partner. They decide to have a blood drive, which is a really good way to respond to a tragedy.
In a flashback scene, we see that Harry and Doris took in both boys. Doris is, by the way, a living saint. She takes these two boys into her home and heart. Until that is, Brian almost kills Deborah.
Not for the last time.
Meanwhile Dexter is planning to take out Captain Spencer. The only problem is that, through a series of rather heartwarming events, he’s given blood twice on the same day. So when it comes time for the kill he isn’t at his best.
Even so, Dex almost makes the kill. The only problem is that Nicky is still alive. And Dexter, proving again that he is a strange and gentle monster, cares more about saving the son than killing the father.
What worked
I first want to shine some well-deserved light on the casting in this series one last time. Because Roby Attal, who played Brian, did a fantastic job. He looks very much like Christian Camargo, who played Brian in the original series. But of course, the important thing is the facial and body language. He smiles like Brian, moves like Brian. And, of course, kills like Brian. He was the perfect choice.
I also really enjoyed the scenes between Dexter and Captain Spencer. They were well done and emotional. I loved the passion and anger in Dexter’s voice when he confronted Spencer. I loved Dex playing a video game and putting in Nicky’s initials. And I really loved Dex stabbing Spencer with a hypodermic needle through his hand and into his neck. It was well-written, well acted and cathartic.
Now, in the interest of fairness, I owe Sarah Michelle Gellar an apology. Because she was great in this episode. Her character, Tanya, was passionate and perfectly well-acted. Best of all, she looked her age.
And she looked beautiful.
So often in media women’s ages are hidden like dirty secrets. Even more so when she was popular in her youth. So to see her look her age, look haggard and tired, was fantastic.
What didn’t work
All of that being said, this was not a perfect episode. The worst thing, in my opinion, was that we found out why Captain Spencer abducted his son. Why he killed an innocent boy. Why he kidnapped these boys and tortured them for days before he killed them. And why he slaughtered an entire houseful of people.
I have no intention of spoiling the reveal for you. But when you watch it, I’m sure you’ll share in my disgust. I was expecting some deep dark secret, maybe some sort of corruption or betrayal.
But that’s not it. And the reason he had doesn’t make sense. Why torture these boys with his intention was, well, what it was?
I have some hope that this reveal was false. After all, all we have is the word of a man plastic wrapped to a table. I guess we’ll have to wait until the next episode to find out.
Finally, I do want to point out one thing that is a little disappointing about the series as a whole.
It’s kind of hard for there to be a lot of suspense for the coming episode. We already know that nothing very bad can happen to our dear demented Dexter. He will not be caught. He will not go to jail. He will not die. Neither will Deb, Brian, or any of the other beloved characters from the original series. So much of the tension we might have felt just isn’t there. This is a struggle for a prequel series and one that I don’t think this series has done enough to address.
Despite the slight letdown of the killer’s motivation, this was a good episode. It set up the finale with a great cliffhanger and left us with more questions than answers. I’m cautiously optimistic about the last episode of Dexter Original Sin.
(4 / 5)
Good news to my nonbinary pals – we no longer exist!
“But Brannyk,” you may be thinking, “what am I supposed to do now that I am no longer a real being? How shall I spend my days?”
Unfortunately, the government has not released a handbook for this occasion, so I thought we could brainstorm together.
BECOME A GHOST
There are some benefits to being a ghost, for sure.
No rent or insurance payment. No corporate job, no cleaning cat litter, no AT&T trying to sell you another line after repeatedly telling them that you just want to make sure that your autopayment is on, but they’re all like, ‘Why would you pass up such a bargain on a second line? Are you an idiot? Why wouldn’t you need another phone line?‘ and so you have to tell them, “Because I’M DIVORCED, ASSHOLE, THANKS FOR REMINDING ME OF THAT!”
Ahem. I digress.
Yeah, you may not be able to venture out, much like Adam and Barbara in Beetlejuice. You may need to put up with someone else crashing your place and moving around all of your shit. Or Ryan Reynolds trying to sell you Mint Mobile. Or some toxic couple taking your creepy doll that you spent years on trying to possess.
Or, my absolute biggest pet peeve, when you’re practicing for the ghost speed chair-stacking championship and the normies just don’t appreciate your cool skills.
But the advantages are that you get to stay home, watch tv, stack your chairs and hope whoever buys your house/visits your creepy woods/gentrifies your neighborhood is a cool person, too.
(2 / 5)
It’s a good choice, but has a lot of drawbacks.
BECOME A CREATURE
Look, if you’re not going to exist, go big or go home, I’d say.
Monsters are cool. They play by their own rules. Sometimes they cause havoc. Sometimes they come around and help people. Sometimes they work alone. And other times, they have a lot of friends. Sometimes they just need some affirmation. And sometimes they’re…in high school, apparently?
The cool thing is that they come in all shapes and sizes.
Monsters are generally misunderstood. Some have their fans. Others are hated.
So basically, just like people, except with more tentacles.
The only downsides are that you might be too big or too “ick” for some people (these can also be pluses), you may have a taste for human flesh (no judgement), or the biggest issue – there are too many choices.
You could get stuck trying to figure out what kind of monster you are. If you’re not into labels, it’s an absolute nightmare. Or if you’re like me, it’ll be like standing in Subway for 15 minutes trying to figure out what toppings and dressings you want while the “sandwich artist” is openly judging you.
(4 / 5)
I like the customization, but it can be a bit too overwhelming.
BECOME A CRYPTID
Hear me out. I know it seems a lot like the monster category, but it’s not quite.
Cryptids are weird and mysterious. They keep to themselves. They have people who are fascinated by them and post on Reddit about them. Some have people making documentaries about them.
They’re like monsters’ quieter cousin who reads books in the corner at family gatherings. They collect shiny things they find by the side of the road. Sometimes they’ll steal a peanut butter sandwich or two.
Ever so often, they might scare a human just by existing or by politely asking for their stuff back.
Each one kinda has their own goals and priorities. Their own hangouts and interests. But unlike monsters, they’re not looking to rock any boats-
Never mind, I stand corrected.
(5 / 5)
I like the freedoms of being a cryptid and also dig the cottage-core vibe I get from them.
CONCLUSION: LET’S BE REAL FOR A SECOND…
I know it’s hard right now. It’s going to be hard. You may not exist to some assholes, but you are real. You have real feelings and thoughts and dreams. You have a real future. You have real decisions. Real actions that affect this world.
You have the real ability to wake up tomorrow and choose to exist. And for whatever reason you choose. Use it. Ghosts and monsters and cryptids are powerful, just like you are, even when you don’t feel like it. They have a place in our human world, just like you do. You make this world interesting and important.
You are part of this world, you are real, and you are not alone.
The horror community is one of acceptance, diversity, creativity and passion. In these times, it needs to be. We need to rely on each other. We need to cultivate and protect each other, as much as we need to protect ourselves.
And it looks like I’ll be coming out of my own cryptid hovel I’ve spent the past few years in to remind you that. My job isn’t done. Not by a longshot. And neither is yours.
You exist to me. Today, tomorrow, and forever.
Be safe out there, friends.
Breaking News
Joe Bob’s Christmas Carnage: A Bloody Good Holiday Special Fri. December 13th – 9pm ET!
